Charisma, a word originating from the Greek language with the meaning of: a gift, blessing or an innate quality that one possesses, is often used to describe individuals who have strong presence and energy.

Being charismatic is a quality that someone naturally possesses rather than being learned no matter which situation the person is being placed at. This quality is an integral part of their life. Some people believe that having this quality throughout one’s life is not true but rather temporary. They believe that a person remains charismatic depending on his environment and this quality cannot last throughout his lifetime.

The late Sheikh Zayed did not become the president of the UAE only because he possessed charismatic qualities but because he had other qualities that still made him live in our hearts and this goes on for generations after generations. History shows the qualities of Sheikh Zayed being futuristic, wise, opinionated and also confident of the decisions he took. He was never hesitant, had a big heart and showed love for all the Muslims and Arabs. He took care of his people by listening to their opinions and also renewing the Arabic traditions. He has done so much that his presence still remains among us.

The late Sheikh Zayed was therefore, not only the UAE’s charisma, but the Arabs and its history’s charisma.

Prominence may be the cause of charisma to some, leadership may be the reason to others. A manager’s charisma on one hand may be the result of the love and loyalty of those around him where his role develops into a combination of a manager and a leader. His character is not the result of his authority when performing his roles in the implementation of tasks.

Scholars of the administration therefore differentiate between a manager and a leader, for a manager carries out his tasks through human and material resources available to him within the framework of the regulations or laws. His role is implementing these resources to produce goods or services. 

A leader, on the other hand, leads people to willingly perform tasks and does not pay attention to the details of the procedure as much as he is attentive to choosing who performs these tasks.

A leader, confident in himself and the capabilities of those who believe in him, not only mandates to those who will be in charge but also works on empowering them.

The difference between delegation and empowerment is that the delegation provides power, and specifies the means, tools and method of implementation. However, empowerment is when the leader gives the delegated person the freedom to implement his ideas, choose the means, choose the tools and the method.

A manager’s vision is often close and short, since he tries to cover the shortcomings of his skills and knowledge by reminding everyone of his managerial position where people have no choice but to obey him and carry out his orders. A visionary leader on the other hand, has a vision for the future.

One of the most important qualities in charismatic management or characteristics a leader should possess is understanding and the wisdom of communication. A leader is the connecting link between employees at senior levels and others at executive levels.

Thislink must be characterized by a thorough understanding and wisdom of communication and accurate understanding in order to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations of one of the parties which can negatively affect employees and their work. The wisdom of conduct requires calm and careful thinking before any reaction results in an administrative or financial disaster for the institution.

For a manager to be a successful charismatic leader, he should not convey all he hears from the senior management to the employees. Some decisions taken by the senior management may be misinterpreted and can cause confusion.

The contrary also applies, where a manager should not transfer every tiny detail to the senior management, but instead, should work on solving the problems to turn them into opportunities to increase production, strengthen staff relations and their institutional loyalty.

The technical skills and the confidence of the manager enhances the performance and strengths of the employees, allowing them to achieve the manager’s mission and vision considering they view him as a confident, determined an assertive decision-maker that achieves progressive results.

Ability and Desire

One of the main elements of a charismatic manager is willingness, if you lack a strong base in power and strength to achieve a goal, the direction to reach your objective will be weak; therefore, eliminating your chances of achieving success. Integrating your surroundings’ desire along with yours is the formula to accomplishment.

With desire being present, all you require is the complete balance of appropriate skills, tools, personal abilities, knowledge, science, and often training or talent. It is also necessary to integrate personal abilities with the availability of human and material resources in your external environment.

Thus, a charismatic leader seeks to bring harmony between the desire and ability through enhancing the employees’ desire by encouraging and empowering the employees to remain motivated, giving them the strength to reach a goal.

Cultured Determination

As human beings, we interact with each other and do not consider colleagues or employees to be hardworking machines. The more we respect and understand people’s circumstances, the more admiration and appreciation will be received, thus, increasing the employees’ gratefulness and loyalty towards their leader, their work and the organization.

Charisma can be defined in one of the following personas, whether an international star, a famous personality, a leader, a president, or a military commander.

People can belong to more than one of these personas at the same time, thus making them an ideal example of a charismatic individual.

Praise be to God, throughout history, one has never come across a person possessing multiple personas except for our Prophet Muhammad may peace be upon him.

Is Charisma limited to people?

I think that the parts of our personalities that we have not discovered yet are already present in our lives. A charismatic person would want to pursue a scientific specialization at university simply because the major meets some of the qualities that would increase an individual’s charisma.

Architectural design of a certain traditional style may also have a strong charismatic appearance that can be displayed in the form of building and residences. Can we label these buildings as charismatic architectural structures?

Let us look for the elements and qualities of charisma within ourselves, perhaps we can call itself charisma.